6G WIRELESS:
A N E W S T R AT E G I C V I S I O N
5GIC Strategy Advisory Board
6GIC
EX ECUT IVE SUMM ARY
In this paper, we leverage Historically, mobile technologies have been developed
by setting arbitrary or rather vague goals, such as ‘higher
the wealth of technical and data rates’, ‘increased mobility’, or ‘the mobile internet’.
commercial experience of As markets have advanced however, so has our
understanding of users’ behaviours and industry
the industry partners of the economics. Effective strategic thinking has tended to
follow the systems research and development phases,
University of Surrey 5GIC rendering a degree of inflexibility and ‘architectural lock-in’
and set out a commercially often when it is too late. Operators are then driven
to invest without clear economic rationale. We advocate
credible vision for the a new approach, enabling strategic decisions to be
successor to 5G. made as research progresses. This reduces the risk
that outcomes do not meet business requirements.
Why is a 6G strategic vision needed, and why now? The paper is structured with some background; often
As with any major innovation, commercial transformation, it is useful to look backwards to look forwards. We then
or research programme, strategic objectives are set out a commercial vision for 6G, including discussion
essential anchors, needed to ensure focus and cohesion. on major drivers, enabling technologies, and an approach
A commercially driven 6G vision, with forward momentum, for development. We also address ‘loose ends’ with the
leveraged in a coordinated way, will reduce potential for 5G vision, which can be expected to result in commercial
loss in efficiency as global research and development 5.5G solutions over the next decade, much as we have
progresses, and will open essential opportunities for seen evolution with 4G systems. The paper concludes
members and stakeholders. With a typical cycle of around with comments on bringing elements of the new
10 years for wireless generations, now is the critical approach together, supported by a new collaborative,
time to begin the journey towards 6G. cross-functional, and pragmatic programme of work.
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wireless services across a variety of spaces: from indoors,
B AC KGROU ND A ND TRENDS to high speed vehicles. With each new generation,
operators are faced with increased challenges of managing
return on capital invested to viable levels. The accepted
Wireless technology has, of course, been around now approach is not sustainable. A new approach is needed
for some time. Marconi’s early work is still remembered which meets developing demands effectively.
with the coming together of research and
commercialisation which has now characterised the
success of five generations of mobile technology.
Early mobile systems used analogue technology (1G),
The traditional approach to
which set the ball rolling, but 2G GSM transformed the next generation wireless is not
industry to a mass market with new enhancements via sustainable. A new approach
2.5G GPRS and EDGE technologies delivering user data is needed that is inspired
rates to 100kbps and beyond. 3G systems were launched
by the great societal and
in 2001, using higher bands above 2GHz, to meet ongoing
economic challenges ahead.
market demands for mobile data and service access,
with enhancements in HSPA+ (3.5G) technology enabling
data rates to tens of Mbps. Since 2013, 4G Advance
technology has been commercially deployed by many
operators, offering peak channel capacity at over 1Gbps
(over 100MHz bandwidth). In practice, 4G (LTE-A) NE W GLOBAL CHALLE NGE S
offers users data rates of tens to hundreds of Mbps,
depending on conditions.
How should a new generation of wireless technology
5G, launched commercially only recently, was a more be developed to meet key new demands? The direction
complex initiative, with objectives for multi-band operation being set by the World Economic Forum (WEF), with its
and support for various use case types defined from 2021 Annual Meeting, provides some insight. With the
the outset. One element, ‘Enhanced Mobile BroadBand’ COVID-19 crisis, the meeting will not be held at its regular
(eMBB), has been developed as a direct continuation venue of Davos, Switzerland, but via a new configuration
of the industry’s quest for ever higher data rates, that will include both in-person and virtual dialogues2.
but a second element, ‘Ultra Reliable Low Latency
Communications’ (URLLC) is opening up huge potential Uniquely, the event will be open to virtually anyone with
for industrial modernisation. A third element, 5G-enabled an internet connection. Key themes up for discussion will
‘Massive Machine Type Communications’ (mMTC) include: climate change, healthcare, and social equality.
or IoT (Internet of Things), is still being developed. A look at the WEF Global Risk Report 20203 lists
Key innovations with (and to some extent alongside) 5G environmental factors, information security, and
have included enhancements in the radio design, larger international cohesion as major issues.
antenna arrays, greater use of software networks allowing
‘slicing’ – active reconfigurations across the network to Separately, the United Nations (UN) has set out its
support the service needs of varied business sectors, and Sustainable Development Goals4, with a global call
the usual – more spectrum in higher bands, with a modest for action to promote prosperity, whilst tackling climate
increase in spectral (not necessarily cost) efficiency . 1 change and environmental imperatives.
There is a trend here. New generations of mobile
technology have appeared roughly every ten years since Note: where noise and interference can be minimised,
1
5G offers improved spectral efficiency.
1G. With each new generation, there is a push for higher 2
See: https://www.weforum.org/press/2020/06/the-great-reset-a-unique-
data rates, which means more spectrum. More spectrum twin-summit-to-begin-2021/
3
See: https://www.weforum.org/reports/the-global-risks-report-2020
means higher bands, which means less coverage for given 4
See: https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-
cost. And the need for mobility varies; users now consume development-goals/
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6G
Services
Linked to new
global challenges
technologies such as with TeraHertz (THz) bands
6G N E E DS TO BE DIFFERENT supporting short range sensor functionality5.
As 5G has already pushed technology hard in some
6G must be designed with key global challenges areas, it will be important with development of 6G
in mind. These form a starting point for the global to be clear where the big gains may be realised;
research community. And if 6G is to meet these grand for example, with physical constraints, it is getting
challenges, it will be essential for the technology increasingly difficult, in economic terms, to improve
to support both cost-efficient coverage, and radically on spectral efficiency. Innovative use of spectrum,
new innovative services. however, will remain a key issue. We can also expect
a range of new commercial models to develop.
If 6G is to be different, a global consensus is needed
from the start on what exactly should be embraced
by the term 6G. Our proposal is that it should include UNIVE RSIT Y OF SURRE Y
both digital and communications infrastructures and 5GIC’S NE W APPROACH
a future converged fixed-mobile world (in which “mobility”
will always be an important component part). The need
to sustain interoperability or secure global scale With 5G now in commercial deployment, it is now time
economies through a coordinated introduction justifies to launch a programme of research and development
inclusion and setting a high bar to justify adding to support 6G. 5GIC will continue to support 5G
in anything that is not backwards compatible. developments under a 5G+ label.
Early technical work has already begun around 6GIC will be a key UK-based hub for global innovation
the world on exciting new services and applications. and collaboration on 6G wireless, involving governments,
Ideas include immersive extended reality (XR), digital regulators, mobile operators, vendors, enterprises,
replication, ubiquitous wireless intelligence, telepresence, and leading research and development centres.
holographic communications, wearable networks,
adaptive materials, and use of entirely new radio
See: http://www.6gsummit.com/2019/program/the-1st-6g-wireless-
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summit/
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4-D video
(teleportation)
Making
invisible things visible
Enhanced edge to user
environment
New service possibilities through extending human
senses in a fusion of the virtual and physical worlds
Direct Ultra (massive)
Large
satellite-to-user antenna arrays for
intelligent
through beam forming distributed (hybrid)
surfaces
satellite MIMO MIMO
Infrastructure research to deliver coverage ubiquity for the new services
Exceptionally low latency Super fine time synchronisation Sensing (THz)
AI and quantum Ultra high accuracy geolocation “Memoryful” networking
Multi-disciplinary research into key enabling technologies e.g. new materials, synthetic biology
Figure 1: 6G vision supported by new cross-functional research and development programme
OUR 6G VISION
6G will enable a rich new fabric of digital services, Imagine extending the human experience, via digital
including extending human senses and ambient data solutions, into a realm of new sensory and tactile
in a fusion of the virtual and physical worlds. Imagine perceptions. Imagine interacting seamlessly with
a world where one can interact with colleagues and machines, and enjoying personally tailored healthcare
friends from different continents, from different cultures, and well-being programmes supported by extensive
without any perception of not being in the same room. and yet non-intrusive sensors.
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OU R 6G VISION CONT.
Imagine hyper-fine geolocation, with context-aware 6G will be a hybrid network of networks, comprising
digital services supporting human scale activities such short range, wide area and satellite networks
as physical product browsing and machine tracking. (see Figure 2) and seamless integration and essential
use of edge computing. It will also lift 5G-enabled
We refer to this as data teleportation6. This is not services to new levels of performance and functionality.
the movement of atoms, as in science fiction, but
the movement of information, as in science fact7.
As time synchronisation to microseconds and low 6G will enable a rich new fabric
latency levels are required, this is beyond the of digital services, including
capabilities of 5G technology, but will be within reach extending human senses and
with 6G. Teleportation in this form will support a range
ambient data in a fusion of the
of new applications including e-health, telecare,
virtual and physical worlds.
beyond industry 4.0, and many others.
To enable 6G, a rich cross-functional programme
of technology and scientific research will be needed
(see Figure 1). We envisage a ground-breaking programme 6
Note: some have used the term ‘extended reality (XR)’ to refer to the
of work that will involve collaboration across multiple same concept. Not to be confused with data teleportation as in quantum
physics (quantum teleportation).
scientific and engineering disciplines, critically advancing 7
See: https://www.etsi.org/images/files/Magazine/Enjoy-ETSI-MAG-
6GIC members to leadership positions in the field. October-2020.pdf
6G DATA T E L E P O RT
SE RV ICE S
Next
Generation 6G HY P E R CO N N E CT E D
AI Core Edge
SE RV ICE S
Compute Clusters
NEXT
GE N E RAT IO N
SAT E L L I T E S
WEA R A BLE IN BUILD ING
N ETWOR K S SYST E M S RE GI O N A L
HU B S
D E N SE
CLU ST E RS
MAC H INE SE NSORS Massively Connected Network of Networks
Figure 2: 6G services supported by next generation AI and a network of networks comprising short range, wide area
and satellite networks
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6G will involve our members in national and international collaboration
across many disciplines, building supply chain diversity.
Key areas for multidisciplinary research will include: band, by mapping spectrum resource to demand and
O-RAN and standards enabling supply chain diversity; Quality of Service requirements. This could make next
advanced wireless engineering – extending beyond the generation spectrum auctions a thing of the past.
ideas developed with 5G, including high definition and
integrated sensing and use of new radio bands including 6G will provide advanced services through combinations
THz frequencies, distributed MIMO and cell-less of ultra-high definition sensors and devices, edge
architectures, satellite systems, and predictive and processing for very low latency, and high accuracy
memoryful systems; network interworking – supporting timing and geolocation functions, with core processing
pervasive coverage; materials science – enabling new to be taken to new levels of machine intelligence. Over
forms of antennas and wireless communication, including the next 10-15 years edge compute could be an interim
large intelligent surfaces (LIS); massive and distributed step towards network infrastructure becoming a set of
antenna systems and architectures – supporting ultra- distributed compute resources, supporting both network
high definition communications with a variety of human, and application functions.
machine, and ambient data; advanced, massive
Security across the whole system will be critical,
computing and next generation artificial machine
and will be embedded in the design. This will require
intelligence (AI) – supporting automated and context-
the use of intelligent firewalls, context-aware domain
aware systems, security and threat management, and
level protection, and advanced cryptography supported
advanced human interactions; cloud quantum computing
by cloud quantum computing.
– supporting robust encryption and machine learning;
even lower latency, and synchronisation to microseconds;
6G will extend the network to the human scale
high accuracy pervasive geo-location methods –
with wearable sensors and integrated short-range
reducing barriers between the physical and virtual
communications. These will support a range of new
worlds; bio-engineering – enabling direct interaction
services including healthcare monitoring and ultra-high
between machine and human systems; and leverage
resolution 4D interactions.
of advanced psychology – supporting machine-enhanced
human activities, safety, and intelligent behaviours.
Next generation AI will be a key technology,
deployed across edge and core computing domains,
Advances will be required
supporting both integrated network control functions, in a number of critical areas
such as networks orchestration and QoS management, including cell-less systems,
and intelligent user and machine level services. large intelligent surfaces, time
synchronisation resolution,
AI will build upon dynamic spectrum access introduced
in the 5G era to deliver further improvement in spectrum geo-positioning accuracy,
efficiency. In addition, it will allow spectrum refarming and sensing (THz).
to become a parallel process of introducing a new
technology and phasing out an older one in an existing
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DELIV ERI NG T HE 6G ROADM AP
An important objective for 6G needs to be ubiquitous Effective strategic management of 6G research will
coverage to ensure no digital divide, and where the be essential. It will only be effective with a hub where
satellite and terrestrial connectivity is fully integrated decades of experience in bringing together industry
and seamless from a user point of view. and policy makers, and world-class research and
commercial strategy, is available. 6GIC will carry
It is, of course, all too easy to list out a raft of ‘fashionable’
forwards the success that 5GIC has enabled. Priorities
emerging technologies. It is also way too early to call will be set according to clear commercial potential,
technologies, characteristics and use cases ‘6G’. in concert with research across other disciplines.
The right time to close off options should be at the start
of the standardisation phase. It will take experience Where it is well-known that incremental cost and
and effort to deliver on the selected options taken into effort brings only modest gains, work should proceed
cautiously. We see 6G as a fabric and an ecosystem,
standardisation. We know from the global success of GSM,
bringing together a number of new technologies
that collaboration across industry, governments, regulators,
providing ultra-high resolution communications at the
and industry bodies was instrumental in driving progress:
edge, supported by massive intelligence in the core.
research cannot be done in isolation.
But it must be grounded with well thought-out
The 5GIC+ and 6GIC programmes will support commercial accompanying economics and commercial strategies.
5G and 6G solutions for the periods 2020-30, and 2030+,
Also, our strategy has to recognise the commercial
respectively (see Figure 3).
pressures that continue to be faced by many in the sector.
Funding will be needed to drive this progress. In many cases, incumbents continue to wrestle with
Effort and support will be required to enable collaboration. the challenge of revenue leakage to ‘over-the-top’
Cohesion and shared goals will be needed to realise and cloud-based providers, whereas innovative start-ups,
synergies and deliver efficiencies. How can we learn from with new commercial models, are running to EBITDA
the past to ensure that research progresses effectively? margins at well over the 30-40% industry norms. Financial
valuations reflect both book value, and market value –
Technical standards have for decades provided a platform with harsh reality based on expectations for growth.
for the development of mobile systems, ensuring global As ever, innovation is key. 6G must ameliorate not
economies of scale, regulatory alignments, and vendor conflate these pressures, ensuring cost efficiency
inter-working. Here the challenges will be retention and new revenue potential. More explicitly, where
of ETSI and 3GGP’s excellence in standards production more data or much higher data rates are needed,
whilst ensuring agility and increased use of open solutions, 6G innovation needs to assist in breaking out
and inter-working across a variety of industry sectors. of unsustainable business models.
2020 2025 2030 2035
Delivery of the full 5G vision
5G Evolution
6G Research (enabling technologies) Coordinated implementation
of features to match market
demand with a smoother
6G Standards & Development investment profile
6G Implementation
Figure 3: Roadmap timelines
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5 G CON TIN UE S TO OFFE R GRE AT POT E NT IAL
Our work on 5G will continue, and our vision and support Looking further, shifts in radio design and architecture
for 5G+ is focused on commercial efficiency and wider can be expected. Mobile radios are already heavily
accessibility, covering the expected lifespan of 5G dependent on digital processing, but battery limitations
technology, from 2020 to beyond 2040. 5GIC will continue in user devices currently prevent use of fully flexible
to support advances in 5G over the next decade. software defined radios (SDRs). Once these become
available, it will be possible for systems to more flexibly
The 3GPP technical standards group is continuing support multiple radio interface designs with direct-to-
its work on 5G8; new product developments stemming digital operation. Within the network, access to dense
from Releases 16 and beyond. These are likely to include: fibre networks will support shifting of digital processing
vehicle and transport communications (V2X), 5G-based to regional clusters, and in turn this will support device
IoT, support for license-exempt and shared spectrum, connectivity across multiple network sites.
efficiency improvements, indoor location sensing,
carrier aggregation, meshing, private networking, Deeper inside the network and within the cloud, artificial
and array antenna enhancements. These all essentially intelligence (AI), self-optimisation, automation, context-
render a more pervasive, flexible, and feature-rich 5G awareness, and adaptive network technologies are
experience. The next wave of 3GPP Releases 17 and 18, becoming hugely important. Other key areas will include
currently in planning, can be expected to drive 5G energy efficiency, advanced co-operative antenna array
product releases over the 2020-25 timeframe. systems, seamless interworking across different types
of networks, and security.
Our 5GIC+ programme will See: https://www.3gpp.org/release-17
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continue research in challenging
areas such as: coverage,
automated networking,
and applications such
as e-healthcare, broadcast
techniques and Intelligent
Transport Systems.
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CONCLUSION
5GIC+ and 6GIC welcomes membership from industry and collaboration
with international partners who share our vision.
With 5G now commercially launched, and the and virtual worlds, supported by massive machine
complexity in developing new internationally intelligence, and horizontally integrated networks.
standardised technologies, it is now time to set 6G must take a new direction, not only to meet new
in motion a programme of research and development and ongoing market needs, but to ensure feasibility
towards the next generation of wireless: 6G, likely and economic viability.
to be commercialised from 2030 and beyond.
This will be supported with a ground-breaking
Experience has shown that ‘linear’ development in programme of work spanning multiple scientific
wireless systems, with objectives for ever higher data fields and industry sectors. Extending the principles
rates, places increased demands on scarce resources developed within 5GIC, strategic planning, collaboration,
such as radio spectrum, and is becoming commercially and commercial focus will be at the heart of the 6GIC
unsustainable. A new approach is needed, ensuring model, ensuring market-driven outcomes and 6G
that a range of developing economic, societal, leadership for members.
and commercial challenges, are met.
5GIC+ and 6GIC welcomes collaboration and
The University of Surrey’s 5GIC will continue to support membership from partners who share our vision.
developments on 5G technology, which continues
to offer great potential. 6GIC will leverage beyond We look forward to working with you.
this as a global centre of excellence for 6G.
Our vision for 6G redefines teleportation as a new
wireless paradigm combining ultra-high resolution
and immersive user experiences, integration of human
senses and ambient data, and fusion of the physical
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Contact
Regius Professor Rahim Tafazolli FREng
Director of 5GIC, 6GIC and Head of the Institute
for Communication Systems
Institute for Communication Systems
James Clerk Maxwell building
University of Surrey
Guildford, Surrey
GU2 7XH
T: 01483 689834
E:
[email protected] surrey.ac.uk
